Possibly Maybe
by silverhelix428
Summary: What if Rory got concerned because Emily didn't come back to the room in The Bracebridge Dinner? What if she went for a walk in hopes of finding her, and instead found a certain hoodlum in the process of destroying a snowman? AU Literati, from TBD.
1. Snowman Assassins Strike At Midnight

**Title-** Possibly Maybe  
**Author-** Victoria  
**Rating-** T  
**Summary-** What if Rory got concerned because Emily didn't come back to the room in The Bracebridge Dinner? What if she went for a walk in hopes of finding her, and instead found a certain hoodlum in the process of destroying a snowman? AU Lit, from TBD.

**A/N-** Yes. I know. I should be working on IIWII, but I just rewatched The Bracebridge Dinner and this just popped into my head. Don't expect frequent updates on it, because I'm trying to stick to at most two fics-in-progress at a time. I've seen the effect FF stress can have on a person's life, courtesy my idiot cousin. But I just wasn't going to be able to sleep until I wrote this. Literati seems to have this effect on me.  
And yes, the title is a reference to the Björk song. It's oddly fitting for canon Lit, and given the Gilmore snowman... well, how could I pass it up?

* * *

_Chapter One: Snowman Assassins Strike At Midnight_

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* * *

_

Rory closed her eyes, but she wasn't particularly sleepy and she knew that at this point trying to go to sleep immediately was a bad idea anyway. Next to her, Lorelai rolled over onto her back restlessly, jolting Rory a little further towards the edge. God her mother was a bed hog. And she opened her eyes again, staring at the radiator beneath the window and waiting for the outburst she was sure was coming...

"She's certainly been a long time," Lorelai said at last.

"She said she was going to take a walk. That's what people do when they take walks- they take their time. To think," Rory said. It had been a long and stressful day, and all she wanted to do right now was get some sleep.

Lorelai turned her head to look at her and Rory, sensing the motion, turned over herself in order resignedly. "Well, yes, but you see, this is my mother we're talking about, and when Emily Gilmore says "take a walk" she doesn't mean just walking. She means causing some irreversible drama that will only complicate my life and your life and then somehow finding a way to make it my fault! Or your grandfather's, in this case."

Rory did not want to deal with it right now. "Alright, if it's bugging you _that_ much, I'll go see if I can find her, okay?"

"Okay."

Slipping out of bed, Rory pulled on her shoes onto her bare feet and padded out into the hall in her pajamas.

--

She had wandered over the Inn, but there was no trace of Emily anywhere. Rory yawned, and as she approached the bottom of the stairs, decided to give it up. Her grandmother was a responsible adult; Lorelai was just being irrational. But as she passed the doorway to the foyer, she caught a glimpse of movement. Ducking back behind the door frame, she peered cautiously around.

Jess Mariano was sneaking out... not that that should have surprised her. As he eased the front door open with the casual ease of long experience, he glanced around to be sure he wasn't being observed. Rory ducked back behind the door post to avoid detection. When she heard the door shut, she peeked around again. He was gone.

Curiosity overwhelmed her, and before she could even think about what she was doing, Rory had hurried across the foyer to the door. She grabbed her coat from the pegs in the hall and slipped it on over her pajamas. Then she pushed the door open, with none of the grace Jess had done. And then she was out in the crystal frost night. She took a moment to stare up appreciatively at the clear sky and the coldly sparkling stars, then looked around for Jess.

For a moment, she thought he'd disappeared completely, but then she caught sight of his retreating form making his way towards the center of Stars Hollow. Making a snap judgment, she followed him.

Even as she tailed him from a safe distance, Rory questioned her motives. What the heck was she doing? Why was she following this guy around in the dead of night? It wasn't a crime to take a walk, but somehow she felt guilty. She felt like she was cheating on Dean. And that made no sense. She was just taking a walk! Why on earth should she feel guilty about something so absolutely innocent?

Unfortunately, if she were brutally honest with herself, Rory could answer that question. Jess was... well, he was _Jess_. He was irascible and fiercely annoying, but he was also extremely interesting and- again, Rory had to force herself to be honest even in her own head- extremely attractive. She could forget about him when Dean was directly present, but the rest of the time, Rory was finding that her thoughts wandered around to Jess far more often than Dean if her boyfriend wasn't right there in front of her. And it bothered her. She didn't like Jess. She _didn't_! She was in love with Dean.

_"What do you and Dean talk about?"_

She had reacted defensively, insisting that she and Dean talked about all sorts of things. And they did. But the truth was, every time she tried to delve into a more complex topic, Dean's eyes would go blank and he would simply nod along and humor her, all the while most likely wondering what she was talking about it.

But that was why she loved him, right? Because even when he had no clue what she was saying, he still listened to her. It made no difference that there was no stimulation from his conversation.

_"He just doesn't seem like your kind of guy." _

Oh really, Jess? she replied to the memory. And who exactly _is_ my type of guy, do you think? Well, one possible answer to that question presented itself, but Rory was already too worked up to even _think_ about that. She didn't like Jess, not that way, anyway. And though she was pretty certain he liked her, or at least tolerated her (which, from what she understood of Jess, was the equivalent of liking her), she had no interest in going there. She had a wonderful boyfriend, whom she couldn't stand the idea of hurting.

Rory was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost didn't realize that Jess had stopped walking. Just in time, she noticed his sudden halt and ducked behind a tree to observe him, trying to repress the thought that this was extremely stalkerish behavior.

Curiously, she watched him, wondering what business he could possibly have in the middle of the town square. Her question was soon answered when Jess approached the elaborate snowman they'd complained about before and proceeded to knock its head off with a neatly executed right hook. Despite her intentions of remaining unobserved, Rory burst out laughing.

Jess whipped around. "Who- Rory?"

She stepped out from behind her tree. "Busted," she mumbled, blushing.

"What're you doing out here?" he asked.

Rory shrugged. "I saw you sneaking out. Thought I'd make sure you weren't going to murder any more of your imaginary friends in front of Doose's. So here I am. Purely for the sake of preventing any more... disturbances of the peace." She felt a ramble coming on and cut herself off before she could betray the discomfiture she always felt in his presence.

He nodded, the surprise fading from his face to be replaced by his trademark smirk. "Good. For a minute there, I thought I had a John Hinckley Jr. on my hands."

And there it was, the opening for the easy banter that had quickly become their M.O. She grinned. "No, you don't. Trust me. You wouldn't make a very good Iris Steensma, anyway."

"Well now I'm just offended!" he joked.

"Somehow I thought you'd be glad not to be compared to Jodie Foster."

He shrugged. "So then I'm Travis Bickle?"

Rory pondered that. Finally, she said, "Maybe."

"Rory Gilmore, indecisive. Never thought I'd see the day."

Oh, you have no idea just how indecisive I am, she thought. Then mentally slapped herself. Where was this coming from? It seemed to happen every time she was around him- one of them would say something witty and the other would respond and the bottom half of her face would start grinning all by itself and she felt giddy with the excitement of talking to someone who always understood exactly what she was talking about and... and... and these were not appropriate thoughts to be having about someone who wasn't her boyfriend. Quickly, she elected to change the subject.

"So, do you mind telling me why you're destroying the snowman?"

Jess shrugged. His expression was hard to read: he didn't wear that oddly comforting smirk, but he didn't look angry or unhappy either. His face was just... blank. "Thought I'd take care of the fool who dares challenge the Gilmore reign of..." He struggled with a way to finish his sentence.

"Björk-ness?" she suggested.

"That works."

Rory smiled. "Then I suppose a thank you is in order," she said sincerely. "Thanks, Jess. This was really sweet of you."

He ran a hand over his hair, an oddly awkward expression on his face. But he recovered quickly. "Don't tell anybody," he mock-whispered. "It'd ruin my image."

"Oh, but you damaged a contest entry before it could be judged. I think according to Taylor, that counts as a felony. I'd say your image is pretty safe," she teased. Suddenly, she had a flash of inspiration and knelt down to pick up the half of the snowman's head that was lying at their feet. "This guy, though," she said with feigned sadness. "I'm afraid his image is ruined forever. And I think he's going to want revenge." With no warning, she hurled the chunk of snow directly into Jess's startled face.

For a second he just stood there, blinking through the white flakes that pasted his cheeks. Then he smirked. "Oh, Gilmore, you are _on_!" he cried, bending down to scoop up a handful of snow himself. He quickly formed a snowball and sent it flying her direction. Rory dodged ineffectually, and when he sent another snowball flying her way, she was forced to use the decapitated snowman as a shield to prevent him from getting in a second hit.

"Oh no you don't!" he exclaimed. "You won't get away from me that easily!"

He darted around the snowman after her, snowball in hand. With a scream of laughter that she only managed to muffle because of her consciousness of the lateness of the hour, Rory leapt away from him. She stumbled a little as she reached down to grab another handful of snow, but recovered her balance and formed the snow into a neat little ball even as she dodged his next missile.

Rory lobbed the snowball across the space where the snowman's head had previously resided, smacking Jess with a satisfying _thunk!_ against his leather-covered shoulder. As he seemed to be heading left around the snow figure, she ducked to the right to evade him. But at the last moment, he changed direction and as she came around the snowman, they collided with enough force to send them both crashing down into the snow.

Rory lay half on top of him, breathing hard from laughter but suddenly unable to do more than gasp for air around the unexpected tightness in her chest. Jess lay perfectly still beneath her, staring at her with a look that, on anyone else, she would have described as "deer in the headlights." His brown eyes, staring into her blue ones, were darker than she remembered- and suddenly she realized that they were dark with desire.

Desire for _her_.

Rational thought went out the window. Dean was nowhere near her thoughts. She forgot that her mother was probably waiting for her to return to the hotel room. Instead, she crossed the last inch between their mouths and kissed Jess.

He responded with unexpected passion, teasing at her lips with his and bringing a hand up to cup the side of her face, fingertips sliding into her hair. His lips were cool at first, from the frigid temperatures outside, but as the kiss stretched on, they warmed up. As they did so, the intensity of the kiss increased as well.

God, it was as if she'd never been kissed before! If this was what it could be like, she had been missing out all this time! Almost, she was able to forget about it all. Almost, she left all thoughts of Dean, and Lorelai, and how insane this was, because it felt so _good_. But as the kiss deepened, her mind caught up to her hormones and she jerked back, stunned.

"Oh my god." Already berating herself, she clambered off him, backing away.

"Rory--" he began, getting to his feet and ignoring the snow that had attached itself to his jacket, his hair, his jeans...

"Oh my god!" she half-yelled. She gulped in a lungful of air like glass shards and modulated her voice back into its normal range. "I... Jess, I... I have to go! My... my mom is waiting for me to come back to the room and I..." She continued to retreat from him. "Don't say a word, Jess!" He nodded, but the gesture was lost on her back as she turned tail and fled.

_Oh god this was going to be a mess..._

Meanwhile, Jess stood in the snow next to the partially demolished snow figure, watching her retreat. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and a slight smile twitched at the corners of his swollen lips. Something told him this was the start of something...

* * *

As I said, don't expect REALLY regular updates. I might put out some here and there, but until I get IIWII wrapped up, they won't be frequent.


	2. Panicking

**A/N-** I know, I know, it's taken me _forever_ to get around to this. But hey, guess what, I've built up an awesome little fanbase for this by leaving it for a month! All your reviews/favorites/subscriptions have made me really happy, and since It Is What It Is is winding down (though to all you IIWII fans, there will be a sequel, promise!), I thought I should get a fresh chapter of PM out. Especially since IIWII is probably going to finish and then I'll immediately dive into another Lit fic I've got planned which is going to be totally insane! (I'll give you a hint: Jess. Rory. As roommates. W00t!)

I think there was a point when I started typing that paragraph, but I've forgotten it now. So I'll just say- thanks for your support!

* * *

_Chapter Two: Panicking_

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* * *

_Rory ran pell-mell all the way back up the street, stumbling to her knees more than once when her sneakers hit icy patches concealed beneath the snow. By the time she returned to her room at the Independence Inn, she was breathing hard and she couldn't seem to slow her heart rate down. She told herself that it wasn't because of kissing Jess.

She waited on the lintel for a few moments until her breathing had returned to normal. There was no need for her mother to suspect anything. As far as Rory was concerned, she could blot this night out of her mind and no one else would know. Well, no one but Jess, but she was pretty sure he wouldn't say anything.

Eventually, she deemed she had waited long enough and pushed the door open, stepping into the room and expecting to find Lorelai asleep. However, she was sitting up in bed flicking through a magazine.

"Boy, we Gilmore women seem to have a habit of getting lost in inns, don't we?" she said idly. "It's almost three in the morning. Where'd you go?"

"Oh, just walking around," Rory said quickly. Perhaps too quickly, because Lorelai looked up.

"Uh-huh...?" she said slowly, her tone urging Rory to continue.

The younger Gilmore shrugged. "I just needed some thinking time."

Lorelai examined her daughter, taking in the flushed cheeks, the slightly swollen lips, and the damp places along the hems of her pant legs and on her knees. "Thinking," she said skeptically. "Right. Wanna try again, George Washington?"

"It's the truth!" Rory exclaimed, and her voice squeaked a little, betraying the lie. Lorelai gave her a look, waiting, and though she held out stubbornly for a few seconds, Rory eventually gave a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping in defeat. "I might've done something bad," she said very quietly.

The elder Gilmore's heart iced over in apprehension, but she didn't allow it to show on her face, immediately opening her arms. Rory rushed into her embrace, hugging her tightly the way a small child would. Lorelai stroked her daughter's hair gently. After a few moments, she pulled back a little to look into the miniature version of her own blue eyes. "Okay, now I'm about three seconds from completely panicking here," she said in a tone that was contrived in its lightness. "What happened?"

Rory bit her lip, and her eyes were agonized. "I... kissed Jess," she confessed in a near-whisper.

"Oh Sweetie," Lorelai said, understanding the confused signals she was giving off at last. She hugged her daughter again quickly, then threw the covers off her legs and quickly arranged herself in a cross-legged sitting position, ready to talk through the emotional crisis at hand. "Did you kiss him, or did he kiss you?"

She had been fully prepared to deal with the thought of the town's self-appointed hell-raiser attempting to win Rory away from Dean. It wasn't hard to see that Jess had a pretty enormous crush on her daughter. But when Rory actually gave her answer, it wasn't what Lorelai had expected at all. "It... I kissed him," she admitted. "But he kissed me back."

Lorelai worked very hard to keep her face blank as she nodded. "Okay," she said calmly. "Was it a quick sort of peck-on-the-lips kind of kiss, or was it a sort of long kiss?"

"It was a sort of me-lying-in-the-snow-on-top-of-him kiss," Rory whispered, turning six different shades of red.

If the situation hadn't been so serious, Lorelai suspected she would have found the whole thing quite funny. If there had been no Dean, it would've been hilarious. If Jess weren't... well, _Jess_, it would be hysterical. But Rory _was_ visibly upset, there _was_ a Dean, and Jess reminded Lorelai far too much of herself at that age for her own peace of mind. "Wow," Lorelai said, allowing her own worry to show through for the first time in the conversation. "I think you're going to have to walk me through this one from the beginning."

"When I went to look for Grandma, I saw him sneaking out, and decided to follow him. Purely for safety reasons, I mean. You know how he can be, with stuff like Pierpont and the fake murder and that kind of thing, and I thought I could make sure he wouldn't get in any more trouble. And then he got to the square and he killed the snowman and then--"

"Wait wait," Lorelai interrupted. "What snowman?"

Rory's panic-stricken expression relaxed for a moment and she giggled. "Oh, that yuppie snowman, remember? Jess and I were talking in the sleigh earlier, and I complained about it. I guess he decided to kill it for us."

"Sleigh?" Lorelai prompted.

"Yes, I was alone, he hopped in, we wound up talking."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And he was destroying the fancy snowman, and he teased me about something or other, or maybe I teased him. I'm not sure. Anyway, I wound up hitting him in the face with a snowball, and then we were just sort of hurling snowballs at each other and then I tripped and we fell down together and I was lying on top of him and he looked at me like... I don't even know _what_ like, but somehow I was just kissing him all of a sudden!"

Lorelai sighed. "Rory," she murmured sadly. She had no idea what else to say.

"Mom, what do I do?" the teenager asked, practically begging for a direction to follow, anything to help her make sense of the situation.

"I can't tell you what's right," Lorelai said, "but I can tell you what _I_ would do. You call your dad in the morning and tell him you've decided to accept his invitation for this Christmas, and you take a few days out of town to calm down. Then, when you come back, you tell Dean what happened."

"What?" Rory exclaimed. "I can't--"

Lorelai cut her off. "Yes, you can! You have to be honest with him, Rory!"

"He'll hate me forever!" Rory moaned. "I don't want him to hate me!"

"If you tell him that it didn't mean anything, that it was just an impulse thing, I'm sure he'll understand." A horrifying thought suddenly occurred to her. "It _didn't_ mean anything, right?" The way Rory stared at her bare feet and didn't respond told Lorelai everything she needed to know. "Oh Sweetie, what's going on?"

Rory chewed on her lip, looking nervous and unhappy. "I think... maybe I like Jess," she admitted. "But it's just a little crush, right? It'll go away."

"I hope so," Lorelai said firmly. "You have a great boyfriend who loves you, and I don't want to see this guy come between you two. Believe me, no one understands the appeal of the bad boy better than I do. That's a very large part of the reason you were born. But Jess is trouble, you know that."

She nodded. "I do. But there's another side to him, too. He doesn't let other people see it very much, but it's there. Mom, he's _so_ smart and he's funny and he knows all these magic tricks and sometimes he does the sweetest things. Like the snowman, and fixing Luke's toaster... there's just more to him, you know?"

"That might be true, but that doesn't mean he's good for you to hang around with!" the elder Gilmore protested. "I just don't wanna see you get hurt. So... take some time away from Stars Hollow. Go see your dad, clear your head. Okay?"

Rory chewed on her lip, then nodded. "Okay. I can do that."

She was in a calmer mood than when she had first entered the room, but Lorelai could see that she was still a little distressed, not having had time to process and analyze the night's events, even with the girl talk. "C'mere," she said, opening her arms to her once more. Rory hugged her tightly, burying her face in her shoulder.

"Thank you, Mom."

* * *

**Jess would really appreciate it if you reviewed. Do it for him, huh?**


	3. Fresh Perspectives

**A/N-** So, I thought it was about time I got around to putting out another chapter on this one. I've been so crazy busy with exams and then I had this flu and I tried to write for a week but guess what happens when I'm sick? I get a blocked nose and a blocked writer-mechanism to match. Only good thing about a sick day is unlimited writing time, and I can't even use it. But I'm feeling better now, so my brain is working again and I can write and it's good. I think.

Bit of a shorter chapter, I'm afraid, but I wanted to give you an insight into where everybody's headspace is right now.

* * *

_Chapter 3: Fresh Perspective_

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* * *

_Four days. That was how long he'd been sitting above the diner (or occasionally _in _the diner, depending on if he was "working" or not), waiting for Rory to come in and jumping every time the phone rang. Yep, Jess Mariano was officially pathetic.

He had thought he would hear from her by now. He had figured it was only a matter of time before she came bursting into the diner, demanding to talk to him. He wasn't sure what she'd have to say, but he'd expected her to say _something_.

Jess knew what he wanted to hear. He wanted to hear that she was leaving her block of a boyfriend. He wanted to hear that she wanted to be with him. Jess knew very well that Rory was attracted to him. It showed in the way her pupils dilated when she looked at him, in the way she couldn't quite keep a smile from her face for long in his presence, and in the way she leaned forward to speak to him. He also knew that, whatever she said about Dean, their relationship was about as passionless as Jello.

So, yes, it was fairly safe to say that he had expected to at least _hear_ from her. A note, a phone call, if not a face-to-face visit. Anything.

No such luck, apparently.

He sighed.

He was pathetic.

From the moment he had walked into her bedroom some months prior, he'd been... well, the only appropriate word was "captivated." And it was strange. In New York, he probably wouldn't have looked twice at her. She was pretty, he might even say beautiful, but she wasn't his usual type. But here, with nothing to distract him, he was forced to dig behind the surfaces of things for entertainment. And when he had looked behind the (admittedly appealing) surface of Rory Gilmore, he had found that he really, really liked what he found. She was absolutely brilliant. She had a collection of books that even he was impressed by. She liked good music, and she knew _why_ she liked it. And she sparkled. It sounded really cheesy even in his head, but she could light up any room she entered. More than any of that, though, she was _genuine_. If she said something, she meant it. She was so absolutely without guile. It was childlike, really, how innocent she could be, sometimes.

So for two months, he'd waited and played what few cards he had. He'd managed to snatch a few minutes of conversation with her here and there. He'd made a point of being around as often as possible. He'd fixed a damn toaster. And his perspective on her had grown from initial attraction to a very heavy crush.

Again. He was pathetic.

Jess Mariano didn't get _crushes_. Women came to _him_. But here he was, killing a snowman in the dead of night just because it would make her happy (and, okay, maybe a little bit to piss Taylor off, but that hadn't been his primary motivator).

Then again, the reward for his murderous deed had been pretty much worth it...

But it didn't make up for the fact that she hadn't called. It didn't make up for the fact that he had spent the last four days completely keyed up and snapping at anyone who so much as looked at him funny (and despite his reputation for surliness, Jess knew that even _he_ wasn't that bad normally). No, Jess was fairly irritated with her. She probably needed some time to think, or whatever. Rory struck him as the type to have a plan of action mapped out in ridiculous detail before taking even a step in any direction.

But she still could have called.

* * *

Four days. That was how long she'd been with Christopher and Sherry. She was getting very fed up with Sherry's high-pitched nasally voice, and she just wanted some peace and quiet, so Rory holed herself up in the guest bedroom. Leaving herself ample time to think.

Thinking was bad. Thinking led to thoughts of Dean... and of Jess.

Jess.

Kissing him had been very... (she cast around, desperately, for a neutral adjective, determined to stay objective)... educational. Admittedly, she had only kissed two other boys in her life, so she didn't have much to compare it to. Kissing Dean was nice. He was a good kisser and he never slobbered on her or made her feel uncomfortable. That one time she kissed Tristan while she and Dean had been broken up had been good as well. Pleasant. But she'd been emotionally distraught at the time and honestly couldn't recall much of that.

Jess' kisses, though, had been something else _entirely_. She had felt like... she didn't know what she had felt. But it had been good, very good. And she wanted very much to feel it again.

She didn't want to want that, but it wouldn't be denied anymore. Immediately after the Snowman Incident four days ago, she had confessed that she had feelings for him... feelings beyond the strange friends-ish relationship they had built. She'd been doing quite a good job of suppressing it, of burying her head in the sand and blocking it out. But kissing him with more passion than she'd known she had in her had blown that right out of the water.

So, yes, she liked Jess. Quite a lot.

Wait, what was she talking about? She had a boyfriend! A boyfriend who loved her and who made her feel safe and cared for! And yet she had gone around and kissed not one, but now TWO boys during the course of their relationship! True, she and Dean hadn't technically been together when she kissed Tristan, but it still _felt_ like cheating to her. Oh god, she was a horrible girlfriend! She didn't deserve Dean. She couldn't go on like this, pretending everything was fine in their relationship, because that would just enable her in her cheating behaviors!

That was it. She had to do what her mother had said. She had to tell Dean what had happened. She'd never be able to live with herself if she didn't come clean as soon as possible.

It was decided, then. As soon as she returned to Stars Hollow, she would tell him. He would understand. He was amazing that way- he was the good, understanding boyfriend. That was why she was with him, not with Jess.

(But what if she didn't _want_ good and understanding? What if she wanted an intellectual conversation between equals and kisses that made her feel electric...?)

_Stop it, Rory!_ she commanded herself. It was just a crush. It would go away.

Right?


	4. NOTICE & IMPORTANT NEWS

**Sorry guys.**

No, it's not what you're probably thinking. I'm still continuing this story. However, Possibly Maybe and ALL of my other current fics-in-progress are on hold. There are several reasons for this. The first and most obvious is that I can't write for Heroes due to my prolonged mourning period which will only end when Kring delivers that miniseries he's promising. The second is that, for my Gilmore Girls stories, I'm just lacking any inspiration. I am refusing to write without inspiration, because the result (substandard writing and storytelling) was felt in the later chapters of IIWII. I just don't really WANT to write any of my current stories. I will finish them eventually, but not until I get that spark back for them. Thirdly, I am loaded down with university work, and it's only the second week of classes!

**However, I have a very exciting new project in the works.**

Updates will be slow. I can tell you that right now. However, I will be focusing exclusively on this ONE STORY (well, and my little Gilmore Universe drabbles, but drabbles take about 10 minutes, so they don't even count), so although they will be slow, they will be somewhat regular, at least once a month.

**So what's this exciting new story all about?**

**Title:** Haven't got one yet. For now I'm just calling it The Runaway

**Pairing:** Duh. It's Lit.

**Categories:** Drama/Friendship/Romance/Humor/Suspense/Hurt/Comfort because I CAN'T PICK JUST TWO

**Summary:** Three years post-finale, Rory is all through with the campaign trail, and is one of the brightest rising stars of journalism. However, living the dream comes with a heavy price, and when the tax collector comes calling, Rory finds there's only one place left to run.

**In-Depth:** No, I don't mean a LITERAL tax collector, for all those who may be obtuse about that. I mean, she's getting in over her head in some serious bad sh*t, and some very bad people are going to want to do some very bad things to get her to keep her GD mouth shut. Running to Lorelai = predictable, therefore bad. Running to Logan (whom she is NOT with, but with whom she remains friends) = stupid, since his dad is Suspect Numero Uno. Running to the Gilmores = non-viable option, since Richard will just get blustery and ostentatious about his defense of her. Running to Lane = impossible, because she can't dump her problems on a woman and her children. Running to Paris = not exactly the most helpful situation, no matter how ingenious Paris can be. I won't even BOTHER to say why going to Lucy and/or Olivia would be dumb, because I think you all know. Who does that leave? Jess. He may not be pleased to see her, but he's too much like Luke to send her away. So what goes down when they're more or less hiding out in his apartment for several weeks? I don't think anybody would be surprised to find out...

**I expect to have the first chapter posted within the next two/three weeks. If Labour Day weekend is quiet-ish, maybe even sooner. I tend to write chapters in one sitting and occasionally I actually read them a second time before I post, so it all depends on when I can carve out a 3-hour block of time from my weird-ass schedule. **

**Just... sit tight, and I'll be back in a few.  
-Victoria **


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